Holland, Simon recognized on Southland All-Academic baseball squads

FRISCO, Texas — Late Thursday morning, the Southland Conference officially released the league’s 2020 All-Academic baseball selections, honoring Nicholls State University senior RHP Peter Holland with first team recognition while junior OF Dane Simon slid onto the second squad.

The dynamic duo each served as vital contributors during the shortened 18-game season, as Holland quickly emerged as the first out of the bullpen for the Red & Gray while Simon clicked both at the plate and on the baselines, all while maintaining a 3.91 GPA in biology and 3.92 mark in business administration, respectively.

“Dane and Peter are very deserving of this honor,” head baseball coach Seth Thibodeaux said. “We certainly aren’t shocked. A ton of hard work goes in to this. These guys put in the hours to be the best and I’m proud that they are being honored for it. It’s speaks volumes about them. Congrats to both.”

Holland, who picked up his first-ever recognition on the league’s all-academic teams, registered a competitive year on the mound, tossing 11.1 innings in relief across a team-high nine appearances. The Gulfport, Miss. native finished with a 1-0 record along with a 2.38 ERA, setting down 14 batters on strikes while posting a squad-second best .200 opposing batting average.

Simon, meanwhile, managed a return appearance to the SLC all-academic squads following last year’s automatic selection due to CoSIDA All-District honors. The Destrehan, La. local ranked first conference-wide in both hit-by-pitch (8) and stolen bases (9) while also leading the Colonels in total walks (15), not to mention notching second for the Red & Gray in on-base percentage (.449) and runs scored (10).

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2020 Southland Baseball All-Academic Teams

Student-Athlete of the Year — Kyle Swanson, Northwestern State

2020 Southland Conference Baseball All-Academic First Team
Name School Cl. GPA Major
Christian Brasher^ Central Arkansas Gr. 4.00 MBA
Itchy Burts3 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Sr. 3.69 Mechanical Engineering
Colton Cowser Sam Houston State So. 3.66 Construction Management
Peyton Davis Northwestern State Sr. 3.83 Business Administration
Trent Franson Houston Baptist Sr. 3.94 Finance
Kyle Gruller^ Houston Baptist Sr. 3.94 Interdisciplinary Studies
Peter Holland Nicholls Sr. 3.91 Biology
Jared Martin Stephen F. Austin Jr. 3.52 Kinesiology
Clayton Rasbeary McNeese Sr. 3.60 Criminal Justice
Ridge Rogers^ UIW Jr. 3.88 Rehabilitative Sciences
Kyle Swanson^ Northwestern State Gr. 4.00 Health & Human Performance
Luke Taggart UIW Sr. 3.44 Finance
Brad Verel Central Arkansas Sr. 3.94 Exercise Science
Kelby Weyler Lamar Jr. 3.90 Exercise Science

2020 Southland Conference Baseball All-Academic Second Team
Name School Cl. GPA Major
Trevor Beard Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Sr. 3.71 Communications
Beau Bratton New Orleans Sr. 3.45 Biology
Colton Eager Abilene Christian Jr. 3.57 Engineering
John Gaddis Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Jr. 3.69 Biology
Cole Girouard Lamar Sr. 3.67 Finance
Beau Orlando Central Arkansas Sr. 3.12 Health Education
Brent Pronger Houston Baptist Sr. 4.00 Management
Nick Ray Southeastern Louisiana So. 3.41 Engineering Technology
Jack Rogers Sam Houston State Jr. 3.25 Entrepreneurship
Dane Simon2 Nicholls Jr. 3.96 Business Administration
Marshall Skinner Northwestern State Sr. 3.38 Business Administration
Gavin Stone2 Central Arkansas Jr. 3.05 Health Education
Will Warren Southeastern Louisiana Jr. 3.29 Kinesiology
Conner Williams Central Arkansas Sr. 3.00 Health Education

2 Two-time all-academic selection
3 Three-time all-academic selection
^ CoSIDA Academic All-District